Talk:Reform Party of Canada

abortion issue contradicts itself

Was the Reform party pro-life or not? The article says it was never Reform party policy and at the end it says it was it's official position. Can't be both. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ronwi (talk • contribs) 17:10, 13 August 2011 (UTC)

If there is no objection I'm going to remove the abortion section until someone rewrites properly-it makes no sense as presently written. I'm old enough to remember that pro-life was never the Reform parties official position. Some Reform Pary members were pro-life but so were some Liberal party members...I'd have to research but I seem to remember that it was official policy that such issues would be deceided through referendum. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ronwi (talk • contribs) 20:08, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

Reform deliberately kept the abortion issue out of its official policy. There were some attempts, from time to time, from the membership to bring about an official position, however these never made it past the constituency policy development process, as the membership rightly understood taking an official position on abortion would be political suicide.

Reform's policy on issues of personal conscience was every elected MP was required, when asked, to share their own personal position on the subject, and then re-iterate that, under Reform's official policy, that, during a free vote in the commons on a moral issue, the MP was duty bound to vote the wishes of their constituents over and above their own personal viewpoint. With the advent of the Canadian Alliance, this policy was watered down somewhat, however the Canadian Alliance policy was still written so the wishes of the constituents prevailed over the personal position of the MP.

Reform's position on moral issues of conscience also included support for a nationwide referendum rather than a free vote in the Commons. The free vote was, obviously while Reform was in opposition, the most likely to happen (if anything, and clearly, looking back, not even a free vote happened), but that was the official party position at the time. Scbritton (talk) 00:05, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

It appears that someone has decided to reinsert the Abortion section and cleverly places a footnote except I actually traced the footnote back and discovered that it doesn't back up the article. I've actually read Conway's book (it's online and available at most libraries). This can be a problem with Wikipedia I'm sure the editor meant well but was seeing in the book what he wanted to see rather than what was actually written. Conway was referring in this section to individual members beliefs rather than official party policy. No where does Conway say that this was official Reform policy. So I'm removing the section until someone has time to rewrite it or(and I think this unlikely but you never know) if they can find an actual quote to back up the original version.--Ronwi (talk) 16:46, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Moral Issues

Suggested new section, based upon the repeated addition of incorrect and misleading information on abortion:

Reform's critics repeatedly attempted to discredit the Reform Party by raising issues of moral conscience, such as abortion. Reform's official policy on abortion fell under a broader heading of Issues of Moral Conscience. The policy indicated that a Member of Parliament was required to state his or her own personal views on the subject, and, in the event of proposed legislation survey his or her constituents to determine the views of the population of his or her constituency, and then, in a vote in the House of Commons, vote in accordance with the views of his or her constituens, over and above his or her own personal views.

This policy was put to the test in 1994 when assisted-suicide advocate Sue Rodriguez took her own life with the aid of an anonymous physician. A free vote on the issue was promised in the House of Commons, and the Reform Party began surveying constituents to determine the consensus on the issue. A vote in the House of Commons never materialized.

I realize that citations for some of this are needed, because it refers to official party policy, so if anybody has some reference material, it could be useful. I'm working from personal memory to put this together, but since I actually assisted in surveying constituents on the assisted suicide debate, I can attest, personally, at least, to its accuracy.Scbritton (talk) 16:06, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

Free trade

Was the Reform party really pro free trade? I distinctively remember our local MP campaigning against NAFTA. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.94.176.150 (talk) 11:24, 16 September 2020 (UTC)

Why the name Reform?

Why name this centre-right party Reform?

When I first learnt the word conservative it was that of somebody who opposes great change in society and yet reform sounds like the opposite to that.

Surely the purpose of reform is to make a great change.49.3.72.79 (talk) 19:10, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

That was the name of the party. They can choose whatever name they wish. GoodDay (talk) 02:17, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

That is not helpful. If you did not know the reason either say you did not know or don't respond at all. 49.3.72.79 (talk) 17:59, 1 October 2021 (UTC)

Their idea was to reform society from what they understood as a recently established "left-wing bias", so, to return to old, conservative ways.

political position

Lets get some sources to talk about WP:SCHOLARSHIP...pls avoid media junk.--Moxy- 20:53, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Right-wing populist Or center-right on the Canadian scale ?

• "Reform Party of Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia". (currently in article)
• "Political Parties". J.J. McCullough - columnist (currently in article)

What Moxy found

• Soutar, Kristina (1994). "The Rise of the Reform Party: the Changing Face of Canada" (PDF). The Ohio State University.
• Finkel, Alvin. Review of Of Passionate Intensity: Right-Wing Populism and the Reform Party of Canada, by Trevor Harrison. The Canadian Historical Review, vol. 77 no. 3, 1996, p. 454-456. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/574837.
• Friesen, K. R. (2021). "Reimagining Populism to Reveal Canada's Right-Wing Populist Zeitgeist." Inquiries Journal, 13(01).

(full disclosure: Moxy pinged me on my talk page) From a very quick JSTOR search for ["Reform party" AND Canada]:

• Archer, Keith; Ellis, Faron (1994). "Opinion Structure of Party Activists: The Reform Party of Canada". Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique. 27 (2): 277–308. ISSN 0008-4239.
• Srebrnik, Henry F. (1997). "Is the Past Prologue?: The Old-New Discourse of the Reform Party of Canada". International Social Science Review. 72 (1/2): 5–13. ISSN 0278-2308.
• Lusztig, Michael; Wilson, J. Matthew (2005). "A New Right? Moral Issues and Partisan Change in Canada". Social Science Quarterly. 86 (1): 109–128. ISSN 0038-4941.
• Laycock, David (1994). "Reforming Canadian Democracy? Institutions and Ideology in the Reform Party Project". Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique. 27 (2): 213–247. ISSN 0008-4239.

I have not taken the time to look at the content of these yet, but I have full text access to all if need be. RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 21:54, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Three more book chapters:

• FARNEY, JAMES (2012). "6 Social Conservatives and the Reform Party of Canada". Social Conservatives and Party Politics in Canada and the United States. University of Toronto Press. pp. 98–113. ISBN 978-1-4426-1260-0.
• Tolley, Erin (2017). "5 Political Players or Partisan Pawns?: Immigrants, Minorities, and Conservatives in Canada". The Blueprint: Conservative Parties and their Impact on Canadian Politics. University of Toronto Press. pp. 101–128. ISBN 978-1-4875-2168-4.
• MALLOY, JONATHAN (2013). "10 The Relationship between the Conservative Party of Canada and Evangelicals and Social Conservatives". Conservatism in Canada. University of Toronto Press. pp. 184–206. ISBN 978-1-4426-1456-7.

RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 22:01, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Reform is centre-right to right-wing as per global standards and right-wing as per the Canadian political spectrum. It's better to put right-wing in the infobox rather than centre-right to right-wing because it matches Canada's political spectrum. Ak-eater06 (talk) 22:36, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Agree Is the Left/Right political spectrum outdated?.Moxy- 22:55, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

I know they started out as protest party on behalf of Western Canada, who felt ignored by the federal government. GoodDay (talk) 23:14, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

The Reform Party of Canada changed its name to the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance

The current version of this article ([1]) states in the infobox that the Reform Party was dissolved in March 25, 2000, but that is incorrect (at least from the perspective of Elections Canada). The Chief Electoral Officer approved the Reform Party's application to change its name to Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (short name Canadian Alliance) on April 2, 2000, retroactive to March 27, 2000. See refs at Talk:Canadian Alliance#The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the Reform Party. Mathew5000 (talk) 01:55, 27 November 2021 (UTC)

I corrected the article in several places [2] to clarify that Canadian Alliance was not a newly created political party, but the new name of the Reform Party. Mathew5000 (talk) 00:29, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

Sorry Matthew, but Reform was rebranded (not renamed) into the Canadian Alliance. It was suceeded and rebranded as a pan-Canadian party rather than a Western regionalist party. Also, if you wish to make such important edits, please discuss them on Wikipedia talk:Canadian Wikipedians' notice board, or you may be warned. Ak-eater06 (talk) 01:43, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

Yes, this was discussed at WT:CANADA and on this page before I made the edit. It was agreed that from the point of view of Elections Canada, the Canadian Alliance was not a new party but the new name of the Reform Party [3]. This was adequately sourced in the edit I made [4] which you reverted [5] and I reinstated [6]. I am not aware of any reliable sources stating that the Reform Party was dissolved or disbanded. Instead of reverting the sources I put in this article relating to the renaming of the party in 2000, you may wish to discuss the matter, either in this thread or in the thread at WT:CANADA. Mathew5000 (talk) 20:55, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

User:GoodDay please help this poor guy and assure that Reform was meant to be "rebranded" and not renamed. Ak-eater06 (talk) 20:54, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

There's very little I can do, if Elections Canada considers them to be the same political party. I know us folks in eastern Canada, didn't fall for the 'new brand'. Anyways, either of you may have to open an RFC on this matter. GoodDay (talk) 21:01, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

User:Mathew5000 you need to get a consensus on Wikipedia talk:Canadian Wikipedians' notice board for such an important edit. It's important to note that no one brought this up before, meaning that it seems like you're the only one who believes that Alliance and Reform are the same party. Ak-eater06 (talk) 21:02, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

@Ak-eater06, It's not accurate that "no one brought this up before". I brought it up on November 26 at WT:CANADA, and also raised the matter on this talk page and Talk:Canadian Alliance. It was agreed at WT:CANADA that I am correct on this matter. You may have overlooked the prior discussion, but that's no excuse for your uncivil comments toward me above, for which you have not yet apologized.

In your comments above, you have said three times that the Reform Party was "rebranded". But in your edits to the article ([7][8]) you have not used the word "rebranded" at all. Instead, you reverted the article to include words like "dissolution" and "disbanding" which are not a correct description of what happened to the Reform Party in 2000. Are there any reliable sources that use any of those words ("rebranding", "dissolution", "disbanding") in relation to the Reform Party in 2000?

Even without a source specifically using the word "rebranding", it's probably fair for us to use that term in this article. The sources (which I put in the article and you removed) clearly state that the Reform Party changed its name and its logo. In my view, subject to further discussion, the name and logo change amount to a rebranding. But I don't understand your insistence that the party was "rebranded and not renamed". Mathew5000 (talk) 22:20, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

Elections Canada would seem to be the deciding factor. PS- I've yet to see any attempts to merge the two articles, btw. GoodDay (talk) 04:18, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

No. Please don't merge. Please. Ak-eater06 (talk) 05:21, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

Spoiler

It should be mentioned that this party acted a a spoiler candidate against the more moderate PCP in the reality of the first-past-the-post system. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 37.144.245.25 (talk) 10:29, 4 September 2022 (UTC)